The Autoharp ® , a variation of the German zither, is a unique instrument, originally developed during the late 1800s. The Autoharp is a shallow wooden-bodied box, with a number of strings of various lengths and thicknesses stretched across it.
Although traditionally used in Country and Bluegrass music, the modern development of the Autoharp has also led to its use in for more complex musical styles. There is now a growing community of Autoharp players experimenting with the whole range of music that can be produced by the instrument. There are numerous ways to play this instrument. After the simple strum, ‘melody picking' is the next stage, picking out the melody note at the top of each chord. Advanced players try to pick out single notes as well.
The SoundBrewer sampled version Autoharp is fully multi-sampled. This means that there is a different recording for each string and there is no pitch shifting is used on the samples. The sampled version also has two velocity layers to create a very realistic sound.
The SoundBrewer Autoharp® contains four presets. They are:
• Autoharp® Sus – This preset has the original range of the Autoharp with a long decay time
• Autoharp® - This preset has the original range of the Autoharp with no decay.
• Autoharp® Full Sus - This preset has sounds mapped chromatically (every note) from C0 to C7, with a long decay (sustain). This includes notes that are not originally on an Autoharp.
• Autoharp® Full - This preset has sounds mapped chromatically (every note) from C0 to C7, with no decay (sustain). This includes notes that are not originally on an Autoharp.
Demo Phrases
Click the links below to hear mp3 demos of these sounds. These demo mp3's were created using only samples from the The Autoharp® sample collection.
The Autoharp ® , a variation of the German zither, is a unique instrument, originally developed during the late 1800s. The Autoharp is a shallow wooden-bodied box, with a number of strings of various lengths and thicknesses stretched across it. 
